new pool owner intex pool high ph and ta

[crysmom]

I have a 14x 42 inch intex pool

our water out of the tap is high alkalinity (around 250 ) with a high ph of 8.4

we have the intex salt chlorinator as well

right now our free chlorine is at 3ppm
ph at 8.4
ta at 240 (or higher, the test strip doesn't read that high)

the water is clear smells nice and we don't have any issues with burning eyes or itchy skin
I need to know if keeping the ph this high (its normal tap water level) is going to cause problems in the future weeks. The pool has been set up for only a week and my kids use it everyday

[aylad]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!!

The pH being that high can create problems for your liner if left that high, and the pH/TA combination can create problems for your SWCG cell. You need to drop the pH down to the 7.4-7.8 range. Using muriatic acid is the best way (see the link in my sig for safely using muriatic acid) but if the acid scares you, then you can use dry acid--you just have to use more of it. While doing this, the TA will drop also. If you will log out to the main Poolforum page, look under the "Dealing with metals and metal matters" forum, there's a sticky that will explain how to lower your TA without raising your pH that will be useful to you.

You need to check your SWCG manual and see what level your CYA is supposed to be at--keeping that at correct levels will help the cell work more efficiently, keep a more stable chlorine level, and help your cell last longer.

[crysmom]

I'll get some muriatic acid (not sure if the liquid is available) might have to use the "ph down"
I did check the swcg manual and the cya is supposed to be at 30 - 50 ppm with a max of 150

I definately need the stabilizer the chlorine levels are nice and high-normal in the morning but by the afternoon its on the low end of normal
I'm having a hard time locating a testing kit that does more than ph and chlorine levels I have hth 4 way strips but I don't know how accurate they are and I would really like a kit that would measure the cya levels, or else i'll have no idea how much is in there

I'm in canada and it seems the taylor kits are not available here, or are atrociously expensive

[PoolDoc]

Sorry your post & membership got lost in the crush; not sure if you still need help, but your membership has been upgraded. -ben